Chris Kirkland may have played 25 PL matches for Liverpool, battling for the top spots in the table, but his favourite match came in a relegation battle with Wigan Athletic.

Steve Bruce’s Latics travelled to Aston Villa on the penultimate weekend of the 2007/08 season, requiring a win to secure safety. Their final match would be against Manchester United so the stakes were high.

“There were a lot of nerves going into it,” said Kirkland. “Villa were doing well at the time, pushing for Europe. We were under the cosh a little bit.”

Nonetheless, Kirkland kept a clean sheet, and Antonio Valencia scored twice at the other end to earn an invaluable 2-0 win.

“Antonio was a great player and his two finishes were brilliant,” says Kirkland. “The team spirit was the biggest thing the manager created.”